The present invention relates to the retail promotions industry, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a package having a promotional piece or other item built into its walls.
It is a common promotional strategy to distribute game cards, coupons, or other promotional pieces with packaged products in an attempt to increase sales. Game cards in particular have historically been a successful means for obtaining quick consumer reaction to a product.
In the past, various schemes have been devised for distributing promotional pieces with the product at the point of purchase. A fairly simple yet widely used method involves the printing of the information directly onto the packaging itself. This has proven to be inefficient, however, because most packaging materials are not conducive to having printing placed upon them other than that relating to the standard label. In the particular case relating to games, it is important that certain printing be hidden from view until after the sale of the product and opening of the packaging. This requires the writing to be placed on the inside portion of the package which, being designed for providing and maintaining the proper environment around the product, is in most instances not well suited for holding print. In the case of plastic packages, such as potato chip bags, such printing is undesirable. Also, the amount of printing is limited to the size of the space available on the label. Also, the high cost involved in varying the printing on each individual package limits the ability to use a large number of different types of messages.
A second method for distributing promotional pieces has been to glue or otherwise affix the game piece to the outside of the package. For instance, a first sticker may be placed upon the outer surface of the package and have information printed on its exposed surface. A second, more readily peelable sticker is then placed over the printing to be removed after sale. Related methods involve printing the information either on the package directly and covering the printing with a sticker, or printing the information onto the bottom of an easily peelable sticker and placing the sticker on the package. Quite often, however, game pieces such as these are subjected to consumer tampering in the stores. For example, stickers on the outside of packages are easily peeled or removed. This renders the promotion useless, and has the corresponding effect of decreasing sales of the product itself. Another problem with such "sticker" type game pieces is that the application of the pieces to the package slows in-plant production. Still another problem is that the stickers are typically capable of hiding or carrying only a small amount of printing.
Another means for distributing game pieces involves overwrapping the piece in cellophane and mechanically inserting the piece into the package. While this method allows pieces of relatively large size to be employed, it is costly and typically results in slowing down in-plant production.
There have been many attempts at placing promotional pieces within package walls. However, they all have involved placing the piece within a pouch in the wall, which results in movement of the piece and loss in wall strength, or simply giving the piece to a wall surface. In both cases, the packaging material could not be effectively placed into rolls due to displacement caused by the presence of the pieces between the roll layers. Also, the pieces were always placed onto the final product during its manufacturing stage, which required modification of the package assembly process. Also, the package assembly process is slowed down by the step of inserting of the piece.
Therefore, there exists a need, for a package having a built-in promotional piece which is simple in design and cost effective.
There also exists a need for a package having a promotion piece in which the piece is not susceptible to tampering and which can only be accessed after the package is sold and destroyed.
There also exists a need for a package having a promotional piece which prevents contamination of the piece by the product as well as contamination of the product by the piece.
There also exists a need for a method of producing such a package quickly and efficiently.
There exists a further need for a method of producing such a package which allows the piece to be placed in rolls of wall material prior to manufacturing the final package, and which requires no modification of the package assembly process.